Police probe links between Niskayuna homicide, Schenectady shootout

Police on Tuesday confirmed the victim of Monday's shooting was Ayanna "Yanna" Hunter of Schenectady. Hunter played varsity basketball for the Albany High School Lady Falcons and graduated in 2016.

Police on Tuesday confirmed the victim of Monday's shooting was Ayanna "Yanna" Hunter of Schenectady. Hunter played varsity basketball for the Albany High School Lady Falcons and graduated in 2016.

Photo: Hans Pennink

Photo: Hans Pennink

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Police on Tuesday confirmed the victim of Monday's shooting was Ayanna "Yanna" Hunter of Schenectady. Hunter played varsity basketball for the Albany High School Lady Falcons and graduated in 2016.

Police on Tuesday confirmed the victim of Monday's shooting was Ayanna "Yanna" Hunter of Schenectady. Hunter played varsity basketball for the Albany High School Lady Falcons and graduated in 2016.

Photo: Hans Pennink

Police probe links between Niskayuna homicide, Schenectady shootout

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SCHENECTADY — The fired city worker allegedly involved in last week's street shootout with another man is the stepfather of a young woman shot to death at a Memorial Day cookout in Niskayuna, according to several people familiar with the converging investigations.

Jason Sellie, who remains locked up without bail, is married to the victim's mother, according to sources who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the investigations.

Those sources said Sellie, a two-time felon, might have been bent on retribution when he allegedly fired on Wayne Q. Brown on July 4. Brown is among the people authorities suspect was armed when gunshots rang out at the Niskayuna barbecue where 21-year-old Ayanna "Yanna" Hunter lost her life the night of May 27.

Police say Sellie, 40, was hit in the leg during the July 4 gun battle in Schenectady's Hamilton Hill neighborhood.

Sellie, who until Tuesday had worked in Schenectady's Waste Collection & Recycling Department, was charged with first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon stemming from the July 4 shooting.

He is being represented by attorney Michael McDermott, who said earlier this week that the matter is awaiting possible grand jury action.

Brown, who is charged with felony weapons possession related to the July 4 incident, is also behind bars with no bail.

On Friday, Brown's attorney Justin deArmas described his 18-year-old client as a "good kid" and denied Brown had anything to do with Hunter's slaying.

"He would never so something like that — not Wayne," the lawyer said. "That's a pretty in-depth ongoing investigation involving a lot of people, and I don't really feel comfortable making any remarks about it."

He stressed that Brown currently only faces one criminal offense stemming from what happened in Schenectady last week.

Niskayuna Police Chief Dan McManus has said the investigation of Hunter's death has been hampered by a lack of cooperation from people who authorities believe were at the cookout at Hillcrest Village West apartments.

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Authorities have said at least three people at the cookout, including Hunter and Brown, were armed that night. Police officers descended on the complex after reports of between six to eight shots.

They found Hunter, a former Albany high school basketball player, lying in the parking lot with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at Ellis Hospital.

A third man, 19-year-old Pierre D. Thompson, is also being held without bail, charged with possessing a loaded firearm with the intention of shooting Hunter. But so far, no one has been charged with killing the young woman.

Thompson surrendered to police on June 26. His attorney Cheryl Coleman previously described the case as "really complex factually and very complex legally" but declined to elaborate, citing that ongoing investigation and possible grand jury action.

Asked if the prosecutors are looking into a possible connection between the death in Niskayuna and the shootout in Schenectady, Assistant District Attorney Christina Tremante-Pelham declined comment.

The criminal cases against the three defendants have been transferred to county court and will be presented next week to a grand jury.

The trio are in the custody of the sheriff's office, but for safety reasons not all of them are being kept at the Schenectady County jail.

The investigation includes the State Police's forensic investigative and Major Crimes units as well as the county district attorney's office.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Niskayuna police through the department's TIP Line at 518-386-4589.